Winners of AM Best’s 2025 Student Challenge Announced

AM Best has announced Hernán Burgos and Alexander Porte of UW-Madison – Wisconsin School of Business as the winners of AM Best’s 2025 Student Challenge for their tropical storm parametric insurance solution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The 2025 Student Challenge tasked risk management and insurance students with creating innovative solutions for insurance risks. The proposed insurance solution from Burgos and Porte would provide coverage to low-income individuals and micro enterprises in LAC coastal regions using real-time meteorological data.

“In LAC, where insurance penetration is extremely low and the poverty rate is significantly high, access to insurance products is basically impossible for low-income communities,” said Burgos in an AM Best TV interview about the proposal. “In the region, access to insurance is considered to be a luxury. Millions are left financially vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes.”

Porte explained that the winning Student Challenge entry proposes leveraging the high level of banking products in LAC to create insurance markets and deliver products: “When you’re trying to create an insurance marketplace—you’re trying to create appetites for these products—you need to use other distribution channels.”

In addition to Burgos and Porte, students from University of Akron and Florida State University were finalists in the national competition, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students.

“The innovative ideas and thoughtful proposals put forward by these students point to a bright future for the insurance industry,” said Lee McDonald, AM Best’s senior vice president, publication & news services.

To view video interviews and Best’s Review magazine interviews with the winning team and other finalists, please visit the 2025 Student Challenge landing page.

AM Best’s 2025 Student Challenge is a company initiative to support the development of new talent in the insurance industry. The company also provides an analytical development program.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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